William Butler Yeats, one of the
modern poets, influences his contemporaries as well as successors, such as T.S.
Eliot, Ezra Pound and W.B. Auden. Though three common themes in Yeats’ poetry
are love, Irish Nationalism and mysticism, but modernism is the overriding
theme in his writings. Yeats started his long literary career as a romantic
poet and gradually evolved into a modernist poet. As a typical modern poet he
regrets for post-war modern world which is now in a disorder and chaotic situation
and laments for the past. Yeats as a
modern poet is anti-rationalist in his attitude which is expressed through his
passion for occultisms or mysticism. He is a prominent poet in modern times for
his sense of moral wholeness of humanity and history.
Now,
a comparative study of Yeats with his
contemporary poets is necessary. Yeats and Eliot are two famous
contemporary poets and it is believed that, Yeats is the seed of modernism
where, Eliot is the tree of that seed. Eliot has a great influence on Yeats.
Both have certain things in common. Both are intensely aware of man in history
and of the soul in eternity. Both at times see history as an image of the soul
writ large. Another important similarity of Yeats with other modern poets such
as Eliot, Pound is that they lament for the past and tend to escape from
present miserable condition toward an illusionary Eden. In this regard Yeats differs from
Auden, who celebrates all disorder conditions of his time into his poetry.
Yeats as a modern
poet: Yeats,
like T. S. Eliot, is a representative modern poet and presents the spirit of
the age in his poetry. Like Eliot, Yeats also uses myth, symbolism,
juxtaposition, colloquial language and literary allusions as a device to
express the anxiety of modernity. After the World war-I people got totally
shattered and they suffered from frustration, boredom, anxiety and loneliness.
Yeats has used different type of landscape to symbolize the spiritual and
psychological states of modern man.
Analysis of his
poems: Now, let
us analyze some of his poems individually to trace out modern elements –
“The Second Coming”
is a superb
example of Yeats’ modernism as in this poem Yeats portrays the modern chaotic
and disorder condition after World War I and the poet tends to escape from this
situation.
The
very begging lines of the poem represent the chaotic situation of the modern
world—
“TURNING
and turning in the widening gyre/ The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/ Things
fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,”
The first image with which we are
presented in the poem is an image of disaster; a falcon cannot hear the call of
safety, and begins to spiral wider and wider, more out of control. The falcon
which represents civilization is no longer in a position to listen to
intellect. The centre is unable to hold its own. As a result, things are
falling apart and what results from this disintegration is a kind of complete
anarchy bringing alone with it a lot of bloodshed. Such disorder condition also effects the
religion that Yeats believes much chaos
has entered in Christianity as it has lost its effect and now it is about to
end. The good people sadly lack conviction, while the bad pursue their wicked ends
with passionate intensity. The second coming is at hand. This coming prophet
will be the prophet of destruction. The falcon, symbolizing intellectual power,
has got free of the control of the falconer, representing the heart or soul.
Then, a powerful expression of
Yeats’ agony facing old age appears at the beginning of “Sailing to Byzantium”:
“That is no country for old men.
The young/ In one another’s arms, birds in the tress/ Those dying generations –
at their song.”
In yeats poem there is no place
for old things. Yeats sees old age as a symbol of the tyranny of time. Rage
against the limitations of age and society upon an old man occurs frequently in
his poetry. In “Among School Children”
he considers himself a comfortable scarecrow. The heart becomes
‘comprehending’, unfortunately attached to a ‘dying animal’. In “The Tower”, Yeats calls the aged body
an ‘absurdity’.
In the poem “A Prayer For My Daughter”, Yeats is ever so worried with the
present disorder situation and moreover the upcoming dangerous future that is
near to the next generation. In this poem Yeats wishes to his daughter some
abstract qualities with those she will be able to face the upcoming challenges
of future. In the poem, Yeats’ prayer is not only for his daughter but also for
all people of future generation.
In “Easter 1916”, Yeats sense of humanism is seen which is another
modern trait in literature. The horrible effects of war cast a gloomy shadow on
the poetic sensibility of the modern poets. The sad realities of life paved the
way of humanitarian aspect in modern literature. Yeats’ poetry also abounds in
humanism. In this poem, he feels even for his rival. He says:
“He had done most bitter wrong/
To some who are near my heart,”
Yeats’ use of symbols is another modern trait in his poetry which is
complex and rich. He is the chief representative of the Symbolist Movement. He
draws his symbols from Irish folklore and mythology, philosophy, metaphysics,
occult, magic, paintings and drawings. Several allusions are compressed into a
single symbol. His symbols are all pervasive key symbols. His key-symbols shed
light on his previous poems and “illuminates their sense”. ‘The Rose’, ‘Swan’
and ‘Helen’ are his key-symbols. Symbols give ‘dumb things voices, and bodiless
things bodies’ in Yeats’ poetry.
Thus,
on the basis of our above discussion we can rightly say that Yeats is one of
those celebrated modern poets, who flourished in the beginning of the twentieth
century and created their own style of poetry in order to show their
dissatisfaction with the world.
